He is not a new Anselm Kiefer. But what isn’t can still be, especially since he sees the universal genius as his artistic role model. Wolfgang Mair’s studio, the walls of which are adorned with his pictures, is in Salzburg not far from Kiefer’s residence there. The 43-year-old self-taught artist has long since made a name for himself in the scene. His works are very sought after. And not just in his home country of Austria, where he had previously played his way into the hearts of football fans.
The East Tyrolean native of Lienz started his football career as a 16-year-old. The goalscorer played for FC Tirol and Red Bull Salzburg, among others, celebrated several national championship titles and wore the national team jersey. At the age of 34, he ended his active sports career and, despite having a coaching license, devoted himself to his great passion – painting – under the pseudonym “Kowalski”.
Source: Anselm Kiefer
Get your WELT artist edition by Anselm Kiefer. For just €5.30 we will deliver your copy straight to your home. Click here to go to the order page.
Further WELT artist editions can be found at www.welt.de/kuenstler
also read
For him, paper formats or screens are projection surfaces on which contradictions, social criticism and the security thinking of our socio-cultural structure are consciously placed before our eyes. The works show events and familiar moments from the media and pop culture, which appear humorous through mask-like, almost satirizing exaggeration and at the same time make you think. Formal, purely visual things are linked mentally or emotionally.
WELT: Mr. Mair, what are you currently working on?
Wolfgang Mair: A work commissioned by a lady who wanted to give the picture to her husband for his 50th birthday. It’s a landscape format and I can come up with something on the theme of “donkey and goat”. Both of them have been playing with these pseudonyms ever since they met. To do this, I will delve into Greek mythology with its mythical creatures, the centaur, the minotaur and others. I’m excited to see how the work develops.
WELT: Which subjects particularly inspire you?
Mair: I really enjoy working with literary text influences to create collages. But I also draw inspiration from films, poems, music and photography. The order or idea has to be coherent, and I decide accordingly which materials I work on, whether canvas, wood, metal, whatever. In the beginning I experimented a lot with pastels, watercolors and acrylics and developed my own technique. The basis of my work is so-called stencil cuts – the technically complex stencil technique that many street art artists such as: B. Banksy or Jef Aerosol work. This greatly simplifies the motifs for the time being. In a further step I then work out certain details again using brushes, acrylic paints, spatulas or even spray cans.
Wolfgang Mair at work: He uses the same technique as street artist Banksy
Source: Wolfgang Mair
WELT: How can you describe your artistic style?
Mair: The most understandable way to describe it is probably as a mixture of pop and street art, or simply as contemporary art.
WELT: Where does your artistic streak come from?
Mair: My mother was a kindergarten teacher and brought an incredible amount of creativity to her job, which she passed on to me. She also has a kiln at home and is a busy pottery maker. As a child, I was given art books as gifts, the contents of which impressed me and made me want to study interior design after graduating from high school. But then sport, i.e. football, got in the way. When I became a young professional at the age of 16, I always painted to unwind after a game, which made me feel grounded.
WELT: Are there analogies between painting and football?
Mair: Just like before when I stood on the football field, I now feel the flow effect in my studio. When painting, the loss of control is perhaps a little more intense. When I’m in the tunnel, time and space no longer matter. It happens that I work through the night and only become aware of the outside world again when the sun rises. I sometimes lock myself away for weeks so as not to be distracted. Without consistency, you won’t be successful in either profession. And in football I was able to make people happy with good performances, just like I do now with my art. There are just two of me.
WELT: What does this mean?
Mair: One, what the world expects, and one, how no one expects me. These are lines from a magazine about Asperger’s syndrome. I made a self-portrait out of it. It somehow makes sense to me. As a footballer or painter you are confronted with prejudices: in the eyes of some, the footballer is an idiot who doesn’t work and earns too much money. The artist is more intelligent but usually has an addiction problem. I don’t have a tattoo, I don’t have millions, and thank God I don’t have a drinking problem either. I think the switch from stupid footballer to smart artist is cool (laughs) and I also like to play with the clichés. I follow my dreams instinctively and without the need for self-expression and find more and more myself from work to work.
WELT: Why did you give yourself the stage name “Kowalski”?
Mair: I didn’t want my pictures to be seen as those of the kicker at first glance, but rather the picture itself was important first. I don’t really remember how I got the name Kowalski. My school friends gave it to me on my high school graduation trip in 1998. During my most successful time as a footballer, I sometimes used it to make restaurant reservations without being recognized. Now people already know me as Kowalski (laughs).
also read
WELT: How many pictures have you painted?
Mair: I can not say exactly. At my first exhibition as “Kowalski” 72 works were on display. All works that were created during my time as a professional soccer player. Since I have dedicated myself solely to my art, I stand in the studio six days a week without looking at the clock. I see every day as a creative learning process that I can devote myself to humbly and with great joy.
WELT: What do your former professional colleagues think of your artistic work?
Mair: Consistently positive. It impressed many people because they couldn’t imagine doing something like that. There are also some who have purchased pictures from me.
WELT: So not just Neymar? How did the Brazilian superstar come to want a piece of art from you?
Mair: It was a stroke of luck that took place under extreme circumstances. Red Bull threw a big party in Paris for Neymar’s 27th birthday and wanted to give him a larger-than-life portrait. Five days before the celebration, it was a Thursday, I found out that I was part of the narrow circle of possible artists. 24 hours later I was told that I was the chosen one. The only problem was that the party was supposed to take place on Monday.
WELT: What did you do?
Mair: I booked a flight to Paris and began the preparatory work in my studio. I wasn’t allowed to bring the finished portrait with me because one condition was that the party guests were allowed to look over my shoulders while I painted. Which posed an additional challenge since I usually only paint in a quiet little room. The picture had to be finished on the night of the party and of course be presentable, so Neymar had to be recognizable. The pressure was immense. In addition, my flight from Munich on Sunday evening was canceled and I couldn’t leave until late Monday afternoon. I arrived in Paris shortly before 7 p.m., but without my suitcase. I had the prepared picture with me on the plane, but not my painting supplies. I was extremely nervous.
WELT: And then?
Mair: I called a friend in Paris and asked him to buy me the necessary materials. But the shops were already closed. The lucky circumstance was that my friend’s taxi driver heard my story and was an amateur painter. He sold me two brushes and the most necessary paints. Because the materials were unfamiliar, I had to improvise a lot, but the most important thing was that I could keep going.
Wolfgang Mair (l.) as an active footballer, here in the Austria Vienna jersey in the UEFA Cup
Source: picture-alliance/dpa/Herbert_Pfarrhofer
WELT: When was the portrait finished?
Mair: At three in the morning, just in time for his birthday, Neymar celebrated with his 350 guests.
WELT: And was given a Kowalski. How did he react?
Mair: Neymar’s tattoo artist came first to look at the picture and was euphoric. Neymar was also super happy and thanked him for what he said was a great job. The fact that everything ultimately worked out so well gave me a lot of self-confidence and basic confidence for my future projects.
WELT: Interestingly, you not only stimulate thought with the front view of your pictures, but also with the back.
Mair: Correct. My work always has a B-side, like records. In contrast to the actual image, which I have in mind before I start my work, I design the back extremely intuitively. This allows me to add more depth to the work and add an even more personal touch to commissioned work.
WELT: Do you only have your own pictures or do you also have pictures from other artists?
Mair: Only works that are not mine hang in my living room and bedroom. This is important to me so that I don’t just move mentally in my world. I enjoy the pictures every day.
WELT: Do you also have a jaw?
Mair: Unfortunately not. I have many of his books and visit every one of his exhibitions if possible. What he achieves, what he does, has fascinated me ever since I first consciously noticed him through his exhibition “For Paul Celan” at the Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery in Salzburg in 2005. What he does is very tactile and incredibly impressive. I am fascinated by how he works with myths, history and culture and thus creates inspiration.
WELT: Which piece of his work do you particularly like?
Mair: It is impossible to single out one. If I just think of the 59th Biennale last year in Venice, where he staged a world theater, a veritable inferno of fire, flight and death in the famous Sala dello Scrutinio of the Palazzo Ducale on 800 square meters, by showing his dark, apocalyptic side of the world Power of representational images, with reference to the Venetian philosopher Andrea Emo, under the title “Questi scritti, quando veranno bruciati, thenno finalmente un po’di luce” (The writings, when burned, will finally shed some light, ed .) presented. There you experienced a dimension that initially left you completely speechless. It was just overwhelming.
also read
WELT: You can still tell that today, the way you rave. Can you make a living from your art?
Mair: Yes. Fortunately, I have numerous commission requests and the number of collectors of my work is increasing. I feel accepted and valued for what I do and I am very, very grateful for it. There will also be a new exhibition soon, it is being prepared. You know what I would also find really interesting?
WELT: Do you say?
Mair: In addition to getting to know Mr. Anselm Kiefer personally, an exchange of ideas with the former Hamburg goalkeeper Rudi Kargus and Michael Stich would certainly be exciting. Both were great athletes and now also paint. I can well imagine that there would be an inspiring conversation between us.
Wolfgang Mair is optimistic about his future as an artist
Source: Wolfgang Mair
,%20Homan%20Khrystyna%20(UKR)-0458-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1)